August 19, 1999

Baltimore, MD -- Dr. Preminda Jacob of UMBC's Visual Arts Department has been awarded a prestigious J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Art and the Humanities for 1999-2000. Fifteen scholars who received their doctorates within the past six years were each awarded a stipend of $35,000 for one years research. The awards have been accepted by scholars in eight countries and will be used to conduct research worldwide.

Dr. Jacob, who earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1994, will expand on the research conducted for her dissertation. She will examine the "aural dimensions of public images in the spaces of the city of Chennai" in South India, a region that offers complex evidence of a culture heavily influenced by politics, the film industry, and mythology.

Dr. Jacob's manuscript Celluloid Deities: The Nexus of Visual Art, Media and Politics in South India will be accompanied by a CD-ROM to be produced in collaboration with UMBC's Imaging Research Center and assistant professor of visual arts Colin Ives. Both Ives and Dr. Jacob will visit South India in December 1999 to gather images and complete field work to be used in the examination of culture in Chennai and Mumbai.

The purpose of the Getty Fellowships is to release scholars from academic and administrative responsibilities at a critical point early in their careers when much is expected of them professionally. Dr. Jacob will be in residence at UMBC for the academic year, and will resume teaching in the fall of 2000.